Linnaea Farm is a 314 acre Organic Land Trust stewarded by people dedicated to Sustainable Agriculture, Ecology and Education, on Cortes Island, B.C.

Our Mission Statement:

"To use Linnaea Farm to teach, demonstrate, and develop the values and practical skills of ecological land stewardship for the benefit of the Cortes Island community and the people who come to the farm to learn, thereby strengthening the relationship between community and land."

A Sense of Place...

Linnaea Farm is situated on Gunflint Lake. The farm encompasses a large part of the watershed for Gunflint and Hague Lakes. The lakes are 13 meters above sea level and the topography of the farm rises to 183 meters at the summit of Easter Bluff. The valley bottom consists of deep organic soils, land cleared for pasture, and a large swamp at the northern end. The forested land is largely second growth Douglas Fir/Hemlock mix with a few remaining old growth Douglas Firs. Higher elevations consist of series of rocky bluffs and draws. These are delicate dry ecologies which are rich in moss and lichen species. The lakeside has an abundance of flora and fauna wetland species.

Our Covenants

Linnaea Farm has covenants placed on the entire parcel of land, which are held by The Land Conservancy of British Columbia and Quadra Island Conservancy and Stewardship Society.

Sustainable Agriculture

Our Vegetable Gardens

The gardens of Linnaea farm are, in many ways, the heart of our community. There are multiple gardens all over the farm managed by different Stewards.

Vegetables that grow in "Production Garden" go to a 30 shareholder CSA​; visitors to the Manson's Landing Friday market​; the Cortes Natural Food Co-op and to some of our farm visitors and camps.

Our Farm Stand

Located by the parking lot, the stand is stocked regularly through the Spring and Summer months with produce, plant starts, dried fruit, nuts, juice and jams.

Come check it out!​

Our Fields and Pastures

Meet Jazzy, our beloved milk cow, and Quill, our 9 year old boss cow, always ready to move the herd when it's time to explore new pasture!

Our small herd of cows begins rotational grazing in April, and are moved from paddock to paddock every single day until the rainy season starts again in October. They then spend the winter in our two barns where they eat hay until the sun comes shining again.

​The cows share the land with a small flock of sheep. New lambs are born every year and wool is processed into socks and pillows that are sold on local markets and the website.

Our pastured meat, bones, and organ meats are sold on the farm. Contact us for an appointment or get on our meat mailing list to hear about new arrivals and standby hours.

Come for a Farm Tour!

​Alternatively, come for a self guided tour! Brochures are available on the map situated in the parking lot.

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Education

Education is a major component of our mission ​at Linnaea Farm. Over the years, ​we've built a network of hundreds of alumni from our educational programs. Some of them have become stewards and allies of Linnaea Farm, while others have gone to build initiatives of their own elsewhere in Canada or around the world!

In addition to our own programs, we​'ve been partnering with other educational organisations such as Power of Hope (youth camps) and the University of Victoria (Permaculture Course) and hosting their students.

Over the past few years, we've ​offered a series of workshops over a breadth of topics: organic market gardening, permaculture design, fermentation,cheesemaking...

Lake Stewardship

We are ever so grateful to be living on the shore of pristine Gunflint lake, and, as upstream residents, we share the collective responsibility of evaluating our activities' impact on lake health.

We​'ve partnered with the Friends of Cortes Island Society (FOCI) and are participating in remediation and monitoring activities within their "Love the Lakes" project.

With help from FOCI and Paul Stamets' Fungi Perfecti, we initiated in Spring 2015, a mycoremediation pilot project to help filter water prior to entering the lake. The site of this project is accessible to the public and serves as a pilot for other remediation sites in the lakes' watershed (and other lakes).

In addition to maintaining the my​coremediation site every year, we've been taking other initiatives such as developing our manure handling policies and relocating compost piles. We're now planning out the next steps in collaboration with FOCI.

Participate!

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Stay up to date on what's up at Linnaea Farm!​

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We need your help to keep Linnaea Farm protected for future generations. Every little bit helps!